New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum to retire in February

New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum will retire from international cricket after February's Test series against Australia.

The 34-year-old will become the first cricketer to play 100 consecutive Tests when he takes the field in his team's opener against Australia in Wellington on February 12. He has not missed a Test match since making his debut against South Africa in 2004.

McCullum had intended to wait until after his final match to make the announcement, but said the imminent naming of the Black Caps' ICC World Twenty20 squad had forced his hand.

"Ideally, I would have preferred to wait until after the ANZ Test in Christchurch to make this news public," he said.

"However, the schedule for naming the ICC World T20 squads means I could not have managed this without causing a lot of confusion and speculation - something I was keen to avoid.

"I've loved my opportunity to play for, and captain the Black Caps, but all good things have to come to an end, and I'm just grateful for the wonderful experience of playing for my country."

Kane Williamson will skipper New Zealand at the World Twenty20 in India, which gets under way on March 8.

In his 99 Tests to date, McCullum has accumulated 6,273 runs to be New Zealand's second-highest test run-scorer after former captain Stephen Fleming (7,172). He has scored nine centuries and averaged 38.48 in Tests.

Last year he became the first New Zealander to score a test triple century, making 302 against India in Wellington.

But he is not thinking of his record just yet, adding: "There's a time and place for reflection, and that's at the end of your career.

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"For now, I'll be giving all my attention to helping the team focus on what's coming up over the next few weeks - and making sure we're in the best possible shape for what's going to be a very challenging summer."

McCullum became New Zealand's Test and one-day captain in controversial circumstances in 2013 when new head coach Mike Hesson fired Ross Taylor between the first and second Tests.

Public objections about the manner of McCullum's appointment quickly subsided as he proved himself an outstanding leader, guiding New Zealand to unprecedented success in Test and one-day matches.

Under McCullum, New Zealand are unbeaten in Tests at home since 2013  a run of 13 matches and reached the final of this year's one-day World Cup.

McCullum also excels in the short formats, having scored 5,909 runs in one-day internationals and 2,140 in Twenty20s.

New Zealand Cricket chief executive David White said: "We'll celebrate Brendon's wonderful contribution to New Zealand and world cricket at the end of the season. For now, we want to help him prepare for the upcoming seven weeks with the minimum of distractions."